Bob Bork

Others more qualified than I will tell you about his monumental contribution to the law, and there is no doubt he will be remembered for a very long time. My favorite measurement of a man's significance is the number of enemies he stimulates and the desperate measures to which they resort in order to destroy him. By this measure, Bork was a giant. The vulgar campaign against his nomination to the Supreme Court-spearheaded by Senator Ted Kennedy and embraced by Senator Joseph Biden-was so intense that it produced a new verb "to bork," to describe the actions of political lynch mobs.

What I will remember most fondly about Bob is his unique sense of humor, his uncanny ability to get to the heart of complicated moral and philosophical issues, his love of great movies, and his great pride in his service in the Marine Corps.

He bore his long illness with a mixture of self-deprecation, anger, and wit, he delighted in good food always, he maintained his fabulous intellect to the end, and we always came away from visits with the knowledge that we had been in the presence of a great American. It would not have been possible for him to bear his burdens as well as he did without his deep faith and his great love, both of which flowed from Mary Ellen, a truly remarkable woman.

Dr. Michael Ledeen is the Freedom Scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He is also a contributing editor at National Review Online. Previously, he served as a consultant to the National Security Council, the State Department, and the Defense Department. He has also served as a special adviser to the Secretary of State. He holds a Ph.D. in modern European history and philosophy from the University of Wisconsin, and has taught at Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Rome.

Dr. Ledeen regularly appears on Fox News, and on a variety of radio talk shows. He has been on PBS's NewsHour and CNN's Larry King Live, among others, and regularly contributes to the Wall Street Journal and to National Review Online. He has a blog on Pajamasmedia.com.

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